Month: December 2008

That was fast! 2008 is almost over it was a great year for me, it opened a lot of new opportunities the workshops and etc. I must say that it is the most notable year for my photography career to date. Every year is different but 2008 was better in terms of income. I had acquired a number of additional gears and equipment this year and I don’t see it stopping next year this job is very demanding i need to competitive and to be one in-line at the top. Im still very happy with this job “best job in the world” when your passion is your work, you wont notice that you are working, it is both work & hobby at the same time. I still want to diversify and master other genres, thats the exciting thing about it, you never stop learning and honing your skills.

While 2008 was healthy I can see that 2009 could be a little bit difficult for all of us because of this global economic crisis. Im ready, we are ready, Filipinos are ready for it, we are always in a econimic crisis anyway so nothing will be different. But I agree companies will cut back and will make every possible cost cutting to reduce expenses. Commercial photography will be one to be greatly hit im sure, in fact I had a client who backed-out for a shoot because of these reasons.

Personal life has been great also, our family is lovingly strong as ever. Im proud to say that im a very focused dad and husband I see to it that i give quality time to my family. This year my son started going to pre-school, its really exciting proud dad as always!

I would like to thank everyone; clients, friends and family who believed in me. Happy new year!

Happy Holidays everyone. As our yearly tradition, we attend mass every Christmas eve or the first hour of the birth of Jesus Christ.

And as a Filipino tradition also, many would come to our house our godchildren (inaanak in tagalog) for the Aguinaldo (Christmas present / gift). This is the time of the year where surprisingly almost all people share some blessings to his / her love ones and brethren.

Me and my wife have a very HUGE gift to our son Raffy I hope he likes it.

Canon released press releases of the “Black Dots” issue plaguing the newly released EOS 5D Mark II. Mine has it but It doesnt bother me even though Im very meticulous on details (sharpeness, clarity & etc). Its just that, I have to focus my time on others things like shooting and quality time with my family.

Heres the excerpt of the press release at Canon USA website:

Thank you for using Canon products.

We have learned that some users of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera have identified two types of image quality phenomena that appear under certain shooting conditions.

“Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black)

Vertical banding noise

We are currently investigating and analysing the causes, and examining measures to reduce or eliminate these phenomena by providing correction firmware. An announcement will be made on the Canon Web site when such measures have been determined.

Details of the phenomena and shooting conditions under which they are likely to occur are as follows.

“Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black)When shooting night scenes, the right side of point light sources (such as lights from building windows) may become black. The phenomenon may become visible if the images are enlarged to 100% or above on a monitor or, if large prints of the images are made.

Vertical banding noise
If the recording format is set to sRAW1, vertical banding noise may become visible depending on the camera settings, subject, and background.

We will have to wait for that fix… While waiting, Im planning to have a good photo trip with its full black dots potential (pun-intended) with the family this coming loooong holiday. BTW im enjoying the HD video!!

Apple just released an update of their Camera Raw Compatibility for some of the previously released digital cameras. The Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.4 now supports the EOS 5D Mark II, the powershot G10 and many others. The only one left for me is my Panasonic Lumix LX3. The RAW files of the said camera can now be natively viewable in Finder and iPhoto.

Update: No finder compatibility

Apple’s support release:

About Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.4

This update extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2 and iPhoto 08 for the following cameras:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Canon PowerShot G10

Pentax K2000/K-m

Leaf AFi-II 6

Leaf AFi-II 7

Leaf Aptus-II 6

Leaf Aptus-II 7

Leica M8.2

It also addresses issues related to specific cameras and overall stability.

Ok after that Google Friend Connect. I now integrated log-in feature using the Facebook Connect by Sociable. Quite confusing installing and configuring the app but it already here. Facebook friends can now comment directly here.